The 83-year-old singer was one of the five artists feted at the 46th Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month. During the ceremony, which aired Wednesday night on CBS, “Wicked” star Erivo celebrated Warwick’s lifetime achievement with a moving rendition of the singer’s “Alfie.”
In 1967, Warwick released her own take on the song, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Other singers who have performed the showstopper — written to promote the 1966 film of the same name — include Cilla Black, Cher and Barbra Streisand.
During this year’s ceremony, which took place in early December, Erivo commanded the stage in a cerulean gown. Singing with a live band, the Broadway-turned-screen star suspended her silky voice, slowly building up to chilling belts.
“As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above Alfie, I know there’s something much more,” the Oscar nominee sang. “Something even nonbelievers can believe in.”
In video of the performance, Warwick can be seen nodding her head and getting emotional as Erivo sings about believing in love. Near the end of the song, Erivo’s voice crescendoes from delicate notes to a strong and resounding riff that moves her audience to their feet.
“I love you, Ms. Warwick,” Erivo says, looking up to the teary-eyed “Walk on By” singer, who applauds and smiles.
“Tributes like @cynthiaerivo’s make our hearts so full,” CBS captioned an Instagram post of the singer’s tribute.
The Kennedy Center Honors also paid tribute to actor Billy Crystal, theater star Renée Fleming, Bee Gees member Barry Gibb and musician-actor Queen Latifah with a star-studded ceremony hosted by vocalist Gloria Estefan, who received her honors in 2017. The Spinners and Mickey Guyton also paid tribute to Warwick with a performance of their upbeat song “Then Came You.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meg Ryan, Robert De Niro, MC Lyte, Ben Platt, Titus Burgess, Michael Bublé and Ariana DeBose also appeared to help celebrate the 2023 class of honorees.
“The performing arts are more than just sound and scene, they reflect who we are as Americans and as human beings,” President Biden said in a Wednesday tweet. “To the 2023 Kennedy Center Honorees, thank you for helping shape the very soul of our nation.”